24 February 2015, Dar es Salaam: Seven out of ten citizens (69%) see the type of corruption uncovered in the Controller and Auditor General’s (CAG) annual report as a loss of their (the people’s) money. More than half of citizens (55%) further believe that this type of corruption matters ‘very much’ to their daily lives and three out of ten (31%) would like to be informed about audit findings in a weekly half-hour radio program.

Citizens also believe that the President should take action on the findings of the CAG report: almost six out of ten (57%) believe that the President is responsible for following up on audit issues. Other institutions that are mentioned as responsible include the cabinet (16%) and the courts (11%). Apart from the President, no institution or individual is named by more than 20% of citizens.

These findings were released by Twaweza in a research brief titled Guardians of accountability: Citizen knowledge and opinions regarding oversight bodies. The brief is based on data from Sauti za Wananchi, Africa’s first nationally representative high-frequency mobile phone survey. The findings are based on data collected from 1,474 respondents across Mainland Tanzania (Zanzibar is not covered in these results) in September and October 2014.

Despite clear statements on the wrongs of corruption and the need for the President to take action, citizens are more ambivalent when it comes to consequences for misuse of public funds. Only one out of twenty (6%) think that those found to be corrupt should be banned from public office and one out of six (15%) think they should be imprisoned. The most popular penalties were to be fired and lose pension and benefits (32% of citizens thought this was the right sanction) or repaying the money that was misappropriated (30%).

Citizens were also asked about their knowledge and opinions regarding three major institutions of financial oversight, all of which are involved in the process of production and subsequent follow up of Tanzania’s annual audit report; the National Audit Office of Tanzania (NAOT), the Local Authorities’ Accounts Committee (LAAC) and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The National Audit Office of Tanzania was the most well-known of the three institutions. One in three citizens (34%) have heard of the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) and one out of six (16%) can correctly explain the CAG’s function. For the parliamentary committees responsible for local and national public accounts, the figures are lower. Three out of ten (29%) have heard of PAC and just over one out of ten (13%) can explain its function while one out of four (26%) have heard of LAAC and one out of ten (11%) can explain what this committee does.

For all three institutions, citizens are skeptical of their independence and unaware of their achievements. Less than one out of four citizens believe any of these oversight institutions is fully independent: CAG (25% believe he is fully independent), LAAC (21%) and PAC (23%). And almost no citizens could name any concrete achievements from any of these three institutions. For example, less than 5% of citizens thought that any of these institutions had discovered corruption scandals or brought corrupt public officials to light in the last three years.

The majority of citizens are also certain that there are many different types of corruption within government, but uncertain as to whether these will really appear in the Controller and Auditor General’s report. For example, nine out of ten citizens (88%) think that bribes are paid to secure government positions or tenders, while just over three out of ten (34%) think that these will be published in the CAG’s report.

Elvis Mushi, Coordinator of Sauti za Wananchi commented on the findings “Citizens are clearly affected by corruption and have little faith in key financial oversight bodies to address their concerns. This is understandable given the regular revelations of large scale corruption in government which seem to meet with limited consequences. Part of the problem is that our institutions of accountability have no real teeth with which to impose penalties on those found responsible for corrupt practices.”“At the same time,” he continued “citizens are not advocating for particularly strong sanctions against those who misuse public money. There is a disconnect between our desire to decrease corruption and increase accountability, and our unwillingness to make use of tougher sanctions to achieve these goals. What is needed is strong leadership at all levels to ensure that the mechanisms of accountability can function effectively, and to educate the general public and those in power on the processes and means through which accountability should be enforced.”

Cash worth more than half a million pounds blows through the city - and nobody knows where it came from Hundreds of 500AED notes (£88) was blown through city of Dubai People dashed out of their cars to get their hands on the money It is not known where it came from, and no explanation has been given

Motorists driving through Dubai could not believe their eyes when it started raining money in the middle of the UAE city.

Thousands of 500 UAE Dirham notes - worth around £88 - flew through the oil-rich city on a busy afternoon earlier this month, and officials have yet to give an explanation as to why, or reveal a source of the cash.

Drivers abandoned their cars in order to get their hands on the notes blowing down the road, and were filmed holding handfuls of notes.

It is estimated that notes valued between two and three million Dirham were loose - meaning up to £500,000 was blowing in the wind.

Man sues an airline after landing in Grenada instead of Granada

When a North Bethesda, Maryland, dentist planned a trip to Portugal for a conference in 2013, he decided he'd quickly swing by Granada, Spain, to see the famed Alhambra and other historical sites.

Carrier British Airways had other ideas however, and instead sent Edward Gamson and his partner to Grenada — with an E — in the Caribbean, by way of London, no less.

Gamson, who said he clearly told the British Airways agent over the phone he was going to Granada, Spain, didn't notice the mistake because his e-tickets did not contain the airport code or the duration of the trip. It was only 20 minutes after departure from a stopover in London that he looked at the in-flight map and asked the flight attendant, "Why are we headed west to go to Spain?"

After nearly three days of transit, Gamson just barely made it to the conference, but his vacation was ruined: He's out the more than 375,000 frequent-flier miles he used to book his first-class tickets, and he said the airline was less than helpful.

British Airways offered him and his partner $376 each and 50,000 frequent flyer miles, Gamson said, but he figured the pre-booked hotels, trains and other tours they had planned cost upward of $34,000. So he sued the airline, and he's representing himself.

Grandpa and grandson takes a flight to the wrong Sydney

What would you do if you thought you were going to Australia and ended up in Canada?

It was definitely a long-haul flight for Joannes and Nick Rutten, a grandfather and his grandson who planned to take their holiday in Sydney… Australia.

But when their plane landed and they made their way toward Customs and Immigration, something seemed a bit amiss.

The pair weren't in Sydney, Australia; they'd landed in Sydney, Nova Scotia, located on the east coast of Cape Breton Island, in Canada.

Couple turned away because their ticket was from wrong Birmingham Airport

A couple accidentally booked a cheap flight to the Caribbean from the wrong Birmingham Airport – 4,000 miles away.

Kevin Jones and his partner, Jeanette, were thrilled when they bagged two return flights to Trinidad for just £800, but when they arrived at the West Midlands hub, they were told their American Airlines flight was actually taking off from Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport – the biggest in the U.S. state of Alabama. They had no choice but to get their car out of long term parking and drive home.

Despite the 4,200-mile distance between them, the two airports do have some similarities. They are a similar size and both went into service around the same time - the UK's version was commissioned in 1928, while flights began at the U.S. airport in the same year.